podcast

Editorial Hosts, Diversity, Highlighted Openings and Timely Topics Elevate These Podcasts

by DEIMedia

Haymarket Media’s Rheum Advisor on Air—a 2022 Neal Awards finalist for Best Podcast—has made a commitment to give their audience access to a diverse array of voices. Podcasts give media companies, publishers and associations a wonderful opportunity to showcase voices that may not have always been heard. And maybe win an award in the process.

Cue the music and featured quotes:

“Only one-third of rheumatology practices in America have an affiliated social worker or psychologist.”
“These are stressful times that us and our patients are living in. It’s important to check in with your patients…”
“We’ve just hit the tip of the iceberg in terms of researching this.”

“Welcome to Rheum Advisor on Air, the official podcast of Rheumatology Advisor, one of Haymarket Media’s leading publications… I’m your host, Meghna Rao. In this limited series, we’re focusing on…”

And so begins this outstanding podcast—a 2022 Neals Award finalist for Best Podcast in brand revenue of less than $3 million—in an 18-minute episode from early last year. Finalists in this category show a lot of admirable and replicable traits. Let’s take a look at some of those: (See all the Neal Award finalists here.)

Elevate your editorial stars. Rao (pictured here), editor of Rheumatology Advisor, excels as Rheum Advisor on Air host. The episode referred to above also builds on their all-virtual conference in 2020. “We have a full house today,” she begins. “Let’s address the elephant in the room, as your ACR presentation was aptly titled…”

Give your CEO another stage to shine. Another finalist, Voices in Healthcare Finance from the Healthcare Financial Management Association, starts similarly to Rheum Advisor with a key quote and music. And then host Erika Grotto, HFMA’s senior editor, multimedia strategy, introduces their president and CEO Joe Fifer for his interview with Brian Castrucci, an epidemiologist and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation, on policies to improve public health. It humanizes Fifer and let’s their audience relate to him in another way—especially with the virtual nature of the last two years. He engages in an initial light chat with Castrucci about the recent ascendancy of epidemiologists.

The Neal Awards ceremony will take place in person at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on April 26 at 11:30 am. Register here. For those editorial folks interested, there will also be an in-person meeting of AM&P Network’s Editorial Council at the Marriott Marquis at 9:30 am that morning. All members are invited to attend—more details to follow.

Play the best quotes at the beginning. Starting a podcast with music and quotes appears to be the trend. That’s how a third finalist in the category, All Things Photonics from Photonics Media, Laurin Publishing Company, also begins. This podcast focuses on the physical science of light. The episode I listened to—Bishnu Pal: A Guide Through Guided Wave Optics—was the longest one of the finalists at 43 minutes. Their associate editor begins with the week’s top stories. They air biweekly on Tuesdays. Pal wrote the book Frontiers in Guided Wave Optics and Optoelectronics, so this is specialized stuff.

Interview awards finalists. I learned about these podcasts because of the Neal Awards. Similarly, the fourth finalist in this podcast category—Randall Reilly’s Overdrive Radio—airs wonderful stories from their Owner-Operator of the Year award finalists, one of whom will take home $25,000 as the winner. Multi-Neal Award winning author Todd Dills shows up in another role as podcast host and displays a natural flair for it. “Every owner-operator out there has an origin story for his or her entry into the trucking business, whether simple or windingly complicated … or embellished for effect, as it were,” begins Dills. “That’s no less true of this year’s…” Oh and make it four for four with a quote and music as the intro.

Give your podcast its own identity and website. Last year Randall-Reilly was also a finalist for their Over the Road podcast, an eight-part series that gave “voice to the trials and triumphs of America’s long haul truckers.” In addition to a special website, Overdrive put together an impressive video trailer for Over the Road. A leading podcast consultant, Blake Althen from Human Factor (look for him this year at our AMPLIFY event June 22-23 in Washington DC), advised us a few years ago to give your podcast a separate presence and website, but I still don’t see it that much. Over the Road does have one, however, and it stands out.

Monetize your podcast. Overdrive Radio is the only one of the four finalists that plays a sponsor message in its podcast. Dills’ transition to it is smooth. “Hear the stories on the other side of a quick break from FirstGuard, Overdrive Radio’s sponsor.” They get a 30-second, well-produced commercial. Althen told me last week that sponsorships vary—some do it pre-roll (at the beginning like Overdrive), some do it mid-roll, and other podcast producers tell him they’re just not interested in that, he said. It’s all about the engagement and their standing in the industry.

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Associations Council Lunch & Learn: Maximizing Conferences to Create New Content

by AM&P Network Video Library

This webinar was hosted March 17, 2022.

Conferences and events are a treasure trove of information that could potentially be used in other ways post-event. Discover how associations are maximizing information delivered at conferences and events into other kinds of content deliverables such as magazine articles, blog posts, online courses, webinars, videos, podcasts, books and more.

To watch the video, please login.

Make a long story short written on blackboard

Short-Format Writing and Clever Use of Bullets Bring Axios and Others Success

by MediaUncategorized

It was Mark Twain who said, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Being concise is such an art form that Axios started a whole successful side business around it. Why it matters? Because it shows that writing short, clear and decision-inducing content can have a big impact on your effectiveness, in-house and out.

Log in here to see more tips on writing shorter.

 

Laura Sheridan blog post

Tech& Women: Interview with Laura Sheridan

by DEIPolicy

SIIA is celebrating Women’s History month by profiling innovative women thought leaders in the AI, ed tech and the privacy space. We’re proud to profile Laura Sheridan, Head of Patent Policy at Google. Sheridan advocates for an effective patent examination process, a patent litigation system that operates fairly for all participants, and transparency in these areas.

What’s your favorite part of the role (don’t worry, it can be nerdy!)

Collaborating with stakeholders across industries to help bring about a balanced patent system.

What are some of the jobs you’ve held in the past?

I was the Head of Patent Portfolio Strategy at Google, where I defined Google’s global patent portfolio strategy.

Before joining Google, I worked at WilmerHale on patent prosecution, litigation, due diligence, and post-grant proceedings before the Patent Office.

What was something you learned that you still use today?

Two (or ideally more) heads are better than one.

Is there anything you would go back and do differently?

I wouldn’t have gone straight to a law firm from college. While I have loved the path my career has taken, it would have been exciting to work as a practicing engineer before making the shift to law. I engaged regularly with engineers in my work as a patent attorney, but I never actually practiced as one aside from a summer internship at Lockheed Martin.

What is something unique about your work style?

I try to treat every opportunity to speak and share my thoughts as equally important, whether it’s during an internal meeting or at a conference. I like to prepare ahead of time, making sure I can succinctly deliver my main point. Afterwards, I conduct my own ‘mini postmortem’ to see how I could have communicated better. Clear communication is critical for this role –      even the smallest interactions can result in big learnings.

How/why did you get interested in this field?

I have worked in patents since I graduated from college with an engineering degree. I have loved it the entire time. There’s nothing more exciting than being around technology. When I started on this path, I went to work at an IP boutique law firm as a patent agent and attended law school at night. It was a slog – because it takes an extra year to go at night! The work experience during those four years of law school was invaluable.

What are your top predictions for the field (your focus area e.g., AI, edtech, privacy) in 2022?

I expect to see collaboration across industries to truly address patent quality and litigation fairness.

How do you think we can advance opportunities and recruitment for women, who are traditionally underrepresented in privacy, AI, and tech policy?

By having visible role models in these careers for women to engage with, which helps them to be aware of and      stick with these career paths.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for women in 5, 10 and 15 years?

There are so many opportunities for women in patent law and policy, with roles in industry, government and academia!

What is one piece of advice you wish you had known when you were starting out?

Get to know as many people as possible as soon as possible. There’s no reason to wait until you’re out of law school to start making connections.

What is your organization doing to build mentorship opportunities for women and minorities who are interested in the field?

Google’s Legal Summer Institute is really tremendous. The program aims to improve access to in-house careers at tech companies by expanding opportunities and removing barriers for underrepresented talent in the legal industry.

How is your organization building professional development opportunities?

Google has an Outside Counsel LEAD (Leadership, Education, Advancement and Diversity) Mentoring Program, which seeks to enhance leadership, career development, and access opportunities for women and minority associates by providing mentoring, resources and support.

What are some of the professional development opportunities or people that have made the greatest difference to you and your career?

The Engineering Department at Cornell, where I got my BS in mechanical engineering, really started me off on the right path with visibility into many different career options. They were so dedicated to recruitment of their undergraduate students and provided useful resources along the way.

Are there any non-work activities you engage in that lift women professionally?

I helped to form the NY chapter of ChIPs in collaboration with a group of amazing women in IP. Our goal is to build bridges between women in the field so that there are more connections being made and more visibility into different career options. This has been especially important with the virtual world we’ve been living in for the last two years.